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Justin was born and raised in New Zealand, after completing his apprenticeship he went on to work at some of the great restaurants of the world.
Most notably was Justin's three years at Raymond Blanc’s Le Manoir aux Quat’ Saisons in the UK. At 22 he was M. Blanc’s youngest second Sous Chef and was voted employee of the year from a staff of almost 200. He then spent time in the kitchens of two of Paris’s greatest restaurants, the three Michelin starred Pierre Gagnaire and Guy Savoy, prior to returning to Sydney to work with Liam Tomlin as Sous Chef at Banc Restaurant.
In November 2001 Justin left Banc after two years to open his own restaurant Bécasse in Surry Hills with his wife Georgia North.
Bécasse met with instant critical and public acclaim, being crowned Best New Restaurant by the Restaurant & Catering Association, Best European Restaurant in Australia 2004 by the RCA, and more recently taking out the award for Restaurant of the Year in the Sydney Morning Herald Good Food Guide 2007.
Justin was also awarded Australian young achiever of the year in Parliament House in 2007, as well as achieving Gourmet Traveller’s highest ranking of three stars in the annual restaurant guide, in 2007 Bécasse was also announced in the top 100 restaurants in the world by the London Restaurant magazine.
Justin is also very passionate about ethical eating and is often guest speaker at debates and discussions as well as being invited to write columns for magazines and newspapers such as a recent article published in the New York Times. Justin is often invited by different forms of media to provide commentary as a spokesperson for the hospitality industry.
Justin features regularly on national and local radio stations, discussing his restaurant, books and good eating as well as discussing many of his recipes.
Justin has also appeared on the ABC, Channel nine and Ten networks, cooking and promoting good food and entertaining.
Every year Justin gets invited to appear overseas at international food and wine festival and events with other acclaimed international chefs and restaurateurs.
Justin is the author of two award winning books Bécasse: Inspirations and Flavours and recently published French Lessons.
Bécasse was named runner-up for the 2009 Sydney Morning Herald Restaurant of the year award and Justin was awarded the title of ‘2009 Chef of the Year’.
In November 2009 Justin was named GQ “Chef of the Year” at the Man of the Year awards.
